According to § 160 (1) GWB, the public procurement tribunal shall initiate review proceedings (Rüge) only upon application.

Paragraph § 160 (3) of the GWB specifies that an application becomes inadmissible if the applicant became aware of the violation of public procurement provisions during the awarding procedure, but did not complain to the contracting entity without undue delay. The application is also considered inadmissible if violations of public procurement provisions which become apparent from the tender notice are not notified to the contracting entity by the end of the period for the submission of a tender or application specified in the notice. If violation of public procurement is not notified to the contracting entity by the end of the period for the submission of a tender or application specified in the notice, the application is also inadmissible. After the expiration of 15 calendar days since receipt of notification from the contracting entity that is unwilling to redress the complaint, the application is unlawful.

Immediacy of the review proceedings (10-Days Limit)

According to a number of procurement boards and senates, a review proceeding has to be raised within ten days. It has to be recognizable to the client by describing the alleged facts and remedial action.

For reason of evidence, the complaint not linked to a particular form shall be made per e-mail, fax or written letter.

Whether the immediacy of the complaint withstands the European provisions, is actually really controversial. The procurement tribunals are trying to leave this question mark open.